London Medway

The quay to international trade

The ports of Sheerness and Chatham form the core terminals of Peel Ports’ London Medway cluster, named to reflect how close we are to the capital. We are the statutory harbour authority along a 27.3 mile stretch of the Rivers Medway and Swale. Our sites handle a vast array of cargo including forest products, steel, automotive and Project Cargo, and we can process RoRo and LoLo cargo.

The river Medway has the largest catchment area in Southern England and its reach and strategic location give it an influence that’s even greater. Positioned on the Thames Estuary, closer than Tilbury to Dover and within easy reach of Northern Europe, it also has deep-water access, which is perfect for ships of varying sizes coming from everywhere in the world.

With excellent road, rail and water connectivity, coupled with a significant land footprint available for development, Peel Ports London Medway is perfectly positioned to connect London, the South East of England, and the Midlands to international trade.

Key contact

Jason Green

Port location

Location is everything and our proximity to the nation’s capital means we’re perfectly placed to connect this thriving part of Britain with the world. The ports of Sheerness and Chatham form the core terminals of Peel Ports’ London Medway cluster, which isn’t just a group of strategically placed, high tech docks, but a forward-looking business offering a range of opportunities to all our clients.

Commodities at London Medway

Introduction

We’re not only in a great location. We’re also very flexible, resourceful and easy to work with and can handle a huge array of cargo, including forest products, steel, automotive and project. And if you need RoRo or LoLo, we can do that too.

Whatever your needs, we’re confident we can create the right solution. We have standard and dedicated warehousing, extensive open storage areas and a range of specialist offerings like specialised timber treatment facilities. We’re also home to one of the largest automotive facilities in the UK.

Agribulks

Every year, London Medway handles and stores millions of tonnes of Agribulks. Our strategically placed port has superior facilities, an excellent road, rail and sea network, and offers specialist, tailor-made solutions in close proximity to major UK manufacturing bases and consumers in the South East and London.

We have a wide range of berthing options, providing flexibility in size for vessel charter, along with existing manufacturing and production locations. We also specialise in grain and combinable crops.

Automotive

Our close proximity to the major population centres and manufacturing bases of the South East, gives our customers a major advantage. We’re already helping VW Group, Jaguar, Land Rover, GEFCO, the IM Group and Ford benefit from our automotive experience, expertise and proximity to market.

And all our customers know they can rely on us for speed of transit, efficient storage handling, carbon savings and affordability. We have the knowhow and facilities to ensure all your vehicles, whether they’re new or second hand – or cars, trucks, plant or equipment - are moved through the port smoothly and safely.

Containers

Peel Ports London Medway can help you to move your containerised goods from A to B or all the way to Z. We have great access to London and the South East so we’ll give you the fastest, easiest, most innovative, most cost-effective way to get your goods to where they need to be.

Cruises

From the second a ship enters our waters at Chatham until it leaves, we ensure your cruises are memorable for the right reasons. With our expert pilots and linesmen, your ship, passengers and crew are in the safest of hands.

Your ship is here to benefit from the countries most experienced and skilled port workers and the most secure, modern facilities. And being at the heart of an interconnected network including road, rail and air, it’s convenient for your guests to travel into London.

Energy products

At London Medway we have expertise in handling and storing a diverse range of energy products and components. Across both Sheerness and Chatham, we have deep-water berthing and experience in handling some of the world’s largest vessels. Our stevedoring and marine team have years of successful experience in handling energy products and components.

Forest products

Every year at London Medway we handle and store huge quantities of forest bulk products intended for a wide range of industries and manufacturers throughout the UK. From stevedoring to storage, reprocessing to dispatch, we can offer you a comprehensive range of services to improve efficiency and add value to your supply chain.

Our facilities are close to the South East’s major forest product importers, and next to the population centre of London. Our multi-modal connectivity gives us excellent links to motorway, rail and sea networks, maximising water transport and minimising use of roads. This will give both you and your customers a more efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible way to deal with pulp, paper and timber.

Liquid bulks

It doesn’t matter whether your bulk liquids are fuels, oils, fats, additives or acids. At London Medway, we have the land footprint, the knowledge and the infrastructure, to help you design and build the perfect facilities on site. With our help you can store and process your bulk liquids expertly, safely, efficiently and cost-effectively.

At London Medway we have land, property and planning experts to help you custom-build the port-centric facilities. We can give you access to London and the South East manufacturing facilities. London Medway has ample existing tank capacity with a spread of tank sizes and types available for short or long term storage.

Metals

London Medway is ideally located to handle large, deep water vessels bringing imports from Eastern Europe and the Far East. The port has deep-water docking, with superior efficiency and productivity in vessel loading, offloading and turnaround.

We offer you the flexibility of long or short-term storage and a highly efficient management service through our group multi-site offering. We have multi-product capability and will work with you to provide a cost effective and highly efficient metals supply chain.

Project cargo

At London Medway we can offer you a service that handles everything from power station transformers to large silos and even wind turbines.

With Project cargo, we can completely tailor-make your handling and your journey - even if it’s using a floating crane to load your oversized goods directly from the ship. London Medway has deep-water access, perfect for ships of varying sizes coming from everywhere in the world.

RoRo

There is a huge opportunity for RoRo and LoLo operators to gain access to London and the South East easily through London Medway. With our experienced team of stevedores, fork lift fleet, container handlers and container gantry crane, London Medway can handle RoRo and LoLo for both accompanied and unaccompanied traffic.

Solutions at London Medway

Introduction

London Medway, which is made up of Sheerness and Chatham, is a vibrant, forward-looking business offering a range of opportunities, not only because of its location but also because of the scope for development available to every Peel Ports customer. We can offer a range of solutions from automotive logistics to stevedoring.

Automotive logistics

The Port of Sheerness handled nearly half a million vehicles last year. To support automotive operations at London Medway we have built a PDI Centre which will include pre-delivery inspection, and technical and enhancement services for around 50,000 vehicles per year.

To make our automotive service even more comprehensive, we have made improvements to our infrastructure that give improved RoRo services. This has been coupled with revamped port services and stevedoring to cope with the growing demand.

Cruise services

At London Medway we understand that your passengers are important to you, which is why all of our ports provide an exemplary service coupled with first-class facilities. Helping you to provide them with an outstanding cruise experience.

Our Chatham Terminal has ample space for coaches to bring passengers to their liner or take them to the many fabulous sights and sounds of London on a stopover daytrip. The terminal also provides convenient access to rail, air and motorway networks for any onward journey.

Marine services

London Medway’s Marine Department manages the provision of vital marine services to shipping operators at the port.

These include everything from tug services, marine pilotage and pilot transfer service to hydrographic surveying, maintenance dredging, navigation aid provision and mooring services.

Wherever your vessel moves in London Medway, it’s scheduled and controlled through our vessel traffic service or local control centre.

Port-centric warehousing and logistics

At London Medway we pride ourselves in giving our customers the opportunity to warehouse their goods… then get them to customers in the most flexible, efficient, cost-effective way possible.

Whether you want to simply store a few pallets in a multi-user warehouse or lease your own facility, our team of experts will be on hand to deliver your ideal solution. We can offer you a port-centric solution in the South East near to London and the country’s major population and manufacturing regions.

Port security

At London Medway we want the equipment and the goods we have on-site to be safe and well cared for. That’s why we make sure that our Port Security Authority operates according to best in class standards, promising confidence in the safety and security of you and your assets.

At London Medway we ensure that the quality of our security isn’t just high, but consistent with the highest expectations of the industry. The Port Security Authority and Port Police maintain oversight of the port’s geography and the facility infrastructure. So you can have complete peace of mind knowing that, whatever goods you have, they’re being handled and stored in one of the most secure port environments in the UK.

Property

Our properties are built around your needs. We can offer a wide range of port-centric and specialist developments at London Medway. For more information on properties currently available, please contact our Senior Surveyor for London Medway, Richard Williams by clicking HERE.

Stevedoring

We have a team of highly trained and experienced professionals working for us full time here at London Medway. Currently we have a dedicated team of stevedores operating the complex machinery and offering a service which is second to none. You will benefit from their friendly resourcefulness, knowledge and experience in handling a wide range of commodities through the port.